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"Make it hot to avoid that touch" (Pretty sure thats a Cardi B song) Rolled the dice, for what they cost they are pretty amazing, pity they dont fit out of the box

Haha yep it is, but i live in otahuhu 😅

week one of the Rona done. still having the persistent cough due to phlegm build up and brain fog. no other symptoms so back to work

That's what I run.

Had PS4S, found they were a bit noisy and harsh. Great grip wet and dry though. Swapped to Atturo AZ850s for less than half the price of PS4S and they are just what I need. They aren't as grippy at all, but have enough grip and are comfortable. Won't be 130i sizes though as they're meant for big rigs. My BMW is running LK03 and they are great, even better considering the price. Good all round grip, quiet and comfortable. As mentioned the only downside is they appear to be wearing quite quickly. I'm finding you actively have to search out the cheapest, shittest, tyre to have a bad time these days. Even some of the Chinese tyres are decent now.

That is what I am running. I put 235's on the front once. They looked weird.

Yeah I remember a TV show where they mangled the headers and dynoed the same or better. In the case of my E55 one of the pipes needed a bash to clear the steering column. Probably dropped from 500hp to 499hp or something. Thing was making like 800NM so I was far too busy managing traction to notice any power difference.

I've got these on 18" too. No complaints so far based on daily driving, and an enthusiastic drive from Howick down to and past Kaiaua via the coastal route. @ciderbeard

Bit late to the party but after trying Boto's (replaced as it was a crash waiting to happen), various Hankooks, Michelin PS4 and Primacy 4, I highly rate the Michelin Primacy on a 130i if you can get them at a reasonable price. A really good all round tyre that doesn't wear so quickly like the PS4.

Before buying from hyper, check out nocams.co.nz first. They often have the same stock as hyper but for the "sale" price as their normal price.

The Laufenns (Hankook) that I have run for the last year were okay. However they only lasted 25,000kms on the shitty NZ rural roads. I was quite surprised. The previous cheap Roadstone Eurovis Sport 04 lasted nearly 40,000kms on the same roads. I also abused them at the track and the Mrs did some 1 mile high speed sprints on them. For a commuter or a city car I would highly recommend them. Korean made just like the Laufenns. Both are cheap through Hyperdrive.co.nz which has it's normal 40% off Briscoes style discount going at the moment. We have RE003's on our 200sx. Great in the dry. Terrible in the wet. Quite a few reviews state the same for these tyres. Probably fine for a commuter. Though they are far better than the previous Eagle F1's we had on it. Which were a total laugh on the track in the wet. Zero grip from near new tyres. Great training for the Wife learning to control the car sideways. Even worse once they are a few years old. I think these were made in a different factory to the older ones. I picked up a set of Dunlop Direzza Dz102's to replace the RE003's. Yet to be fitted. I have Bridgestone RE002's on the AMG. Also great in the dry but they also light up like they are bald in the wet just like the RE003's.

Keep in mind that Hyperdrive have a perpetual sale, pretty confident it's against the law. This isn't to say they don't have the best deal, just that regardless of what they claim, shop around.

Not today, but yesterday I drove back from Christchurch to Dunedin, and wanted to see just how economical I could be, just for the sake of it. Managed 7.2L/100KM average over the entire journey, including the hills into Dunedin. I'm pretty impressed with that, especially for a modified car. Nearly 3500km on the mods now, and still running fantastic, flashed for 98Oct, running only NPD 100 the entire time. Definitely a comfortable car for long road trips, don't feel exhausted or sore after the drive, a great improvement over my old 90s Subarus/Mitsubishis.

Have RE003s as well. Was recommended Hankooks or Laufenns last time I asked about tyres, will be trying Laufenn LK03 when I replace my fronts

Dealer confirms fault in OEM glass replacement. They are getting it back in a week or two to do the replacement in house and apparently there is an EGR cooler recall at the same time, two birds one stone. Hopefully that's the end of it!

I know the feeling, motorway scrap took out a rear Eagle F1 Assym 5 with less than 50km's on it in the M3 a few years back, slash in the sidewall, irreparable. 😬

5 cent screw takes out a PS4S with only 1500 kms on it. ☹️

So I have a little bit of a rant. A few days ago I joined a VW NZ Facebook group, as I've been wanting to take my manual W8 to a meet, so figured a VW meet would be a good place to start. Anyway, once accepted into the group I posted a couple photos of the car, and got a few replies in the comments. A member of the group then PM'd me asking if I would be interested in selling the car as he would love to have it in his personal collection. A quick browse of his Facebook showed he had an Audi S5 and a Porsche 911 997.1.5 Turbo, so it seemed reasonable he was seeking out such a rare and unique car, plus it showed he most likely had some deeper pockets. I replied saying I didn't really want to sell but everything is for sale, for the right price! I then quickly typed up a little summary of the car including all the work thats been done in the last 10,000km, sent a couple photos of the car and then asked what he thought it was worth to him. Since there's only approximately 4 W8 6 Speed Manuals left in NZ (with the rest having been parted and one being exported overseas) it is an extremely hard car to value. Its worth exactly what someone wants to pay for it, there is literally no market. I believe my one is the only silver one, and I think is the most original, even having its original head unit, sales receipt, and plate combination, making it ideal for a diehard VW collector. Plus in the last 10,000km its had clutch, clutch master cylinder, engine mounts, rocker cover gaskets, fuel pump and filter, wheel bearing, thrust arm bushings, cv boots, brake hoses, and to top it off, currently has 4 Potenza RE003s on it. With the prices of things like MK4 R32s climbing in value, to the right person, I think my car could be worth a decent amount of money seeing as its rare as hens teeth, has R32 performance, and imo makes one of the coolest exhaust noises of any VW. (I also understand some people would rather have a testicular torsion than a W8 lol) Basically, its a very niche car. I sent him a screenshot of the only other manual W8 I've ever seen for sale, which was up on Facebook for $15K with 70+ listing saves (indicating it must a popular listing) and had half the ks of my one, but was lowered, with commodore style hideous wheels etc and looked to have been messed around with. Whether mine being largely original is worth more or less is a shoulder shrugging exercise, but I sent it through nevertheless mainly to show him that I didn't really want W8 Auto money (2.5-5K) for my manual car. He replied saying he doesn't like to make offers on cars he hasn't seen, to which I replied that he is more than welcome to come round and have a look at the car. He then rather rudely told me I was wasting his time as he wanted me to give him a ballpark figure for "MY specific one!!". Not sure what he was expecting but since he had come to me with a big spiel about how he wanted it in his personal collection, the fact I don't really want to sell the car unless its for a decent amount, his poor attitude, and that naturally you first price high so you don't accidentally undersell what you have, and have some leverage for negotiation, I logically gave him a ball park of $15K, which is exactly what the last one was for sale for (not particularly unreasonable I thought). And then he sees my message, no reply.... Absolute waste of my time, if he actually wanted a manual W8 you would think he might be a bit more inclined to negotiate. It could be years before another one comes up for sale. Or, go put an 01E from an S4 in an auto one, and spend more money than buying a factory manual. My guess is he just wanted to try score a big engine + a manual for cheap, and maybe even try flip it or something. The cheapest WOF/Reg 4.0L or bigger manual car on Trademe is that thrashed cherry red E39 540 which has been up for months for 10K, followed by a manual B6 S4 for 13.5K. But anyway, rant over.

I have a reasonably above-average income. We have a 20% deposit for a below-average-price house. We cannot get a mortgage to cover the difference because my income is "insufficient to maintain the loan."